Return to Sandpoint and the Murders at the Sawmill
The aftermath of the group's rescue of Shalelu, the discovery of a new ally and the carnage awaiting their return to Sandpoint. Shalelu's Rescue In the aftermath of the assault on what was later learned to be ‘Raven’s Roost’, two women were discovered alive among the remains of former prisoners. The first was Shalelu, the elven Ranger that Gaius and the group had set out to rescue, the second an unusual Shoanti woman whom had been slated to be the Ettin’s next meal. The Shoanti, known as Zedkala, took her rescue with an unusual degree of stoicism, tersely thanking her liberators as she set about summoning what appeared to be several small foxes whom had presumably been lurking nearby. Once they were recovered, her demeanor became less taciturn, but she still seemed wary in the company of the others. Shalelu on the otherhand, had suffered an unimaginable ordeal – while Zedkala had only recently been captured, and the Hobgoblins superstitious about harming her due to their fear of magic – Shalelu on the other hand was all too well known to they and their leader Bruthazmus. After parting with the group, she had stalked the hobgoblin from the ruins beneath Thistletop up into Devil’s Platter, but the villain had anticipated her pursuit and had sought refuge with an old ally, an Ettin whom made his home in those rugged hills. The two had laid a trap for her, and she had fallen into their clutches but rather than kill her immediately, Bruthazmus brought her as a trophy to a nearby warband of hobgoblins. The fame he earned, combined with the Ettin slaughtering their current leader, found him a new home as war chieftain. For the next two weeks, he had Shalelu bound to a post in the middle of the encampment, using her as target practice with her own bow, and forcing the band’s shaman to heal her back to consciousness when her wounds became too severe, or Bruthazmus’ shot proved too accurate. Even then the arrows were left in her, in some cases pinning her to the post, and her flesh or broken bones healed around them. She was beaten regularly, and left to the elements as winter began to come on, kept on the edge of life and death for the hobgoblin’s amusements. When the group arrived and freed her, the lingering survival of both her mind and body was in question. After what healing Jasper was able to provide, along with a night’s rest sheltered from the cold and rain and a hot meal, she began to recover enough to travel. Still, the going was slow, and her mind was elsewhere, withdrawn almost completely during the journey back to Thistletop where Ameiko and Aberforth awaited their return. Seeing her dearest friend heartened her somewhat, and the two spoke quietly long into the night as Gaius and the others related what had happened to the dwarven druid. The following morning, Shalelu elected to remain with the Druids rather than returning to Sandpoint with Amieko and the group. This decision surprised Amieko, and while she accepted it, she remained troubled. Shalelu assured her that she would come to visit in time and the Druids reasoned that they would be best equipped to look after her while her mind and body recovered. Still, there seemed to be something distant and withdrawn about the normally confidant ranger, and the departure from Thistletop was marked with concern for the group’s friend and ally. Ameiko drew what reassurance she could from Ezra, remaining close to him during the trip home if uncharacteristically quiet for the majority of it. Along the road back to Sandpoint, Zedkala revealed a bit more of herself and how she came to be in the clutches of the hobgoblins and asked after the group’s ties to Thistletop and the region. The Murders at the Sawmill Upon the group’s arrival in Sandpoint in the late morning, they found the town unusually quiet, but the guards at the city gate directed them to the sawmill, citing trouble though they had little else to offer. Ameiko, still unsettled by Shalelu’s decision to remain behind, derisively muttered ‘never a dull moment in Sandpoint these days’, and took the lead, musing over whether the trouble was anything akin to the mysterious fires that had plagued other sawmills in the region. As they drew near, they found a crowd gathered around the Scarnetti sawmill, but kept at a distance by several of the town’s guard – the group’s arrival was first noted by one of the Varisian workers from the mill and Titus Scarnetti, his face contorted in rage immediately called out to them, demanding to know where they had been the night before. Sheriff Hemlock emerged and attempted unsuccessfully to quiet the nobleman, turning to the group even as Scarnetti railed to the assembled crowd. “Everybody back in one piece? Shalelu’s safe?” The Sheriff looked tired, as if he had been up all night, and his questions, while earnest, sounded almost perfunctory as his gaze settled upon Zedkala. “Who’s this?” He listened as the answer was given and his brow furrowed. “I don’t know her. I’ve had my run-ins with the Shoanti in the past, but if you vouch for her, I guess that’s good enough.” He began to turn, gesturing that you dismount and follow him. “You’re going to want to see this…” he paused, and then nodded to Ezra’s brooch, “…and you’re going want to cover that up.” Grimacing, he paused once more and looked to Jessalyn, adding, “I know you’ve been through plenty, miss, but this isn’t really the kind of thing a young woman should see.” “Really?” Ameiko spoke up, folding her arms and offering the Sheriff a practiced glare at his exclusion. “And Miss Ameiko,” the Sheriff added belatedly, “I could use your help with calming the crowd and perhaps dispersing them a bit while I deal with Titus. He’s got them whipped up into quite a frenzy over this.” Leading you through a crowd that has fallen into murmured whispers over your arrival and past Titus’ glare, the Sheriff spoke privately for your ears alone. “It seems we have a murderer in our midst. Again. I’m sure you remember when I told you about old Stoot, the Chopper? Well this town nearly tore itself apart in fear as his killings continued with no answer in sight. It seems we’re facing a similar situation now. Last night, the murderer struck here, at the Sawmill. There are two victims, and they’re in pretty gruesome shape. The bodies were discovered by one of the mill’s overseers, a fellow named Ibor Thorn, and by the time I got here, this crowd had already begun to gather. We’re keeping the mill locked down and everyone out, but the thing that bothers me more than the fact that we’ve got two dead bodies inside, is that this is the second set of murders we’ve seen in the past few days –“ The Sheriff was cut off then as Titus Scarnetti shoved his way forward, demanding to know why these so-called heroes were being allowed free reign in his sawmill while even he was being kept out. The guards sought to restrain him and the Sheriff looked at you, nodded you inside and then turned to deal with the indignant nobleman. Two guards at the entrance at the sawmill pushed open the doors for you silently, and the stench of the place hit you immediately. Within the mill itself the machinery has been disengaged, but it and the rest of the interior is splattered with blood. It would appear to even the least observant that a struggle of some sort took place here – the mangled remains of a red-haired woman lie on the mill’s lower floor amid heaps of bloodstained timbers, her body clearly having fallen or been forced into the sawmill’s log splitter and torn apart beyond any recognition. The real horror, however, is the other body. Affixed to one wall by several hooks normally used to hang machinery and sawblades is the body of a man. It is mutilated beyond recognition as well, its face cut away and its lower jaw missing entirely. His chest has been laid bare and a crudely carved into his flesh is a seven pointed star, one vaguely horrifically similar to the one appearing on Ezra’s brooch. Floating atop it all is a horrid, unnatural scent of decay. Finally, written in blood above his head are scrawled the words “I've returned for you, my love”. Category:Exposition